Here are all the match reports from the weekend of 6th/7th March - some big wins for various LHC teams and a 6 point weekend for our Women's 1st team! Thanks to everyone who sent in a report.
FYI - There is an edited round-up of these match reports in the Wednesday edition of the Yorkshire Evening Post.
Men's SectionLeeds 1st team thump Bolton to move into 6th spot.
A solid team performance from Leeds 1s on Sat away at Bolton saw them move onto 31 points and 6th position in the league after a 6-1 win. Bolton were soon behind to a Dean Edwards penalty corner after early position was dominated by the away team.
Leeds continued to dominate possession but conceded an equaliser not long after their opening goal, the defence temporarily going to sleep and allowing the Bolton midfielder to run unopposed from ten metres outside the 25 into the circle and shoot past Al Marshall in goal. Shortly afterwards, Leeds nearly conceded a second but an outstanding save from Al “Chemical Ali” Marshall kept the game level and kicked Leeds back into the dominate form they had started the game and it wasn’t long until Pete Hall picked the ball up near the half way line and proceeded to beat 3 players and the GK in a fine solo dribble.
2-1 at half time and the second half saw Leeds move comfortably away from Bolton with Michan McKeown, Hylton Armstrong both scoring from open play and Adam Foster and Craig Walker topped the match off with penalty corner goals.
Coach Lewis Butcher said after the game “I am pleased that we put a struggling side to the sword today. We actually didn’t play particularly well but maintained possession of the ball much better than we have for most of the season and we were clinical when we got into the circle – something we’ve struggled with all season. The fact that we had 6 different scorers shows our system of play is working well and the lads are continuing to improve even at this late stage of the season. 3 more games to go and we will be targeting 9 points to finish on 40 for the season as targeted.”
Report by Lewis Butcher
--------------------------------------------------------- In a mid-table contest in Yorkshire Div 1, Leeds 2s faced Chapeltown and initially went a goal behind against the run of play. The fitness levels, process and work rate of Leeds then paid dividends with Ben Lumley, Mark Hallet and Brad Bates all scoring from crosses in a 3-1 win. Read the full detailed match report from Philip Stubley.
--------------------------------------------------------- In Div 3, Leeds 3s continued to close in on promotion with a 3 - 1 win away to City of York. After a disappointing first half which finished at 0 - 0 Leeds returned to their passing style that has served them so well this season. This resulted in three goals being scored by Tom Selby, James Forest and Richard Fletcher. Man of the match was shared between Paul Gallagher and Richard Fletcher. Leeds now need five points from their last four games to be certain of promotion. Leeds are home to bottom of the table Boston Spa next week.
Report by Paul Deverill --------------------------------------------------------- Back at Weetwood after a long residency at the Lee Lane East Arena in Horsforth, Leeds 4s beat City of York 5-1 in Div 4. Leeds started brightly but fell into a pattern of dwelling on the ball too much and over-egging the pudding. York were happy to soak this up, and hit on the counter to go a goal up. Midway through the first half, the 4s got their act together and started playing properly again, moving the ball around quickly and getting early crosses into the D. York didn't really have an answer to this and it paid dividends as Andy Harkins tucked away 2 goals to take Leeds into the break ahead. Leeds kept this intensity up in the second half, and Andy soon completed his hat-trick after the break with a well struck shot on the turn. York's spirit was broken by this point and a lot of the remainder of the game was spent in their half, Leeds defending high up the pitch. Master Harkins cemented his hold on the Man of the Match award when he got his fourth, and Duncan Rudd rounded off the scoring (assist A. Harkins).
A tricky fixture against Leeds Uni coming up for the 4th team this week, but they can take a lot of confidence from their recent form.
Report by Russ Taylor --------------------------------------------------------- In Div 7, Leeds 5s stayed within a point of the 2nd promotion spot with their 6th straight win in a row, beating York 5-1. Unfortunately, elsewhere in the leauge, Hull University also took 3 points in a 5-0 thrashing of Doncaster to maintain their position above Leeds in the table.
Leeds took an early lead through another well improvised short corner from Moriarty, slipping right to Goulsbra who crossed to an unmarked Forecast on the P-spot to sweep home.
York proved tougher opposition than their league position suggested and equalised through a quick counter attack move, but just before half time Canning made use of a wonderful through ball to direct the ball around the keeper and set up Forecast who finished into a gaping goal.
Leeds had to work hard in the second half and survived numerous scares from short corners and counter attacks but thanks to a fantastic finish by Greenwood from the edge of the D and two neat finishes from Taylor they sealed what was in the end a convincing victory.
3 more matches to go this season, all Leeds can do is ensure they win all 3 and hope that Boston Spa (who narrowly lost 2-1 to York this weekend), Wakefield or Driffield can do them a huge favour in taking some points off Hull!
Report by John Forecast -------------------------------------------------------- Leeds 6s drew 4-4 away to Acomb 2s this week in Div 8, after going 2-0 after 10 mins, Leeds hung on in the first half, before a Matt Brown hat-trick and a goal from Ash Canning put them 4-2 up after 10mins in the second half. A further two goals from Acomb secured them a draw against a dominant Leeds, who were unable to convert their dominant posession and territory into vital goals. A penalty flick from Rob Hyatt could have secured the points but was cruelly denied by an excellent save from the Acomb keeper.
Report by Russ Somerville
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In division 9, Leeds 7s lost at home to Barnsley 1 - 2
Unbeaten, high-scoring Barnsley were confident. They had only dropped 2 points and had beaten Leeds 4-0 in November. However, Leeds were prepared for them. Sarbjit had a secret game plan, written on a beer mat by Rik over beer and chips after the Rotherham game. As a result, Leeds were stronger in midfield and defence.
Leeds matched the Barnsley fervour with prodigious hard work, chasing and harassing, and showed a bit more skill. Both teams kept a tight defence. The strong Barnsley centre forward came up against a brick wall trying to dribble past Gary. Rod and Dave snuffed out the wide attacks. Tim added a touch of class to the team but was really checking that recent reports of exciting games were correct. The best scoring chances came from short corners but the short corner techniques of both teams were generally unimpressive. The Barnsley centre forward fired them straight at the keepers pads, possibly looking for a rebound, a bit like a self pass. The defence cleared up these loose balls. However, the first goal came after Sarbjit's short corner hit deflected onto a defender's foot. Jim ignored the bouncing goalie and put the penalty flick high left. After a couple of shots blocked by the keeper, the best chance for Barnsley came from a cross from the right. The centre forward hit it first time at Charles's head. He swotted it away in self defence to maintain the lead for Leeds at half time. Barnsley were still dangerous, so Leeds kept to the formation with just two forwards. The midfielders put in plenty of work. Vish covered the length of the pitch, as right wing attack and as defender. Phil continued to chase and harrass. The breakthrough for Barnsley came from a right side incursion into the D by the centre forward, the umpire had not seen the kick-on, he turned in along the line at the goal and hit a cross for a far post tap in.
Leeds had difficulty creating good chances. The long ball to Jim nearly paid off a couple of times, but the keeper was nifty. Eventually the pressure from Barnsley lead to a break through the centre. The forward hit a shot at the keeper, collected the rebound and scored. Leeds pressed on and it seemed to pay off when Vish followed up a defensive tangled on the goal line and "scored". The umpire ruled that Vish had stick tackled and his vociferous opinion did not count.
Barnsley were lucky to win, but such is life in which random events affect outcomes. When interviewed after the match, Derek was philosophical. He did not do a Ferguson rant but quietly suggested that a draw would have been a fair outcome. The match showed that this formation was more effective.
Report by Charles Mellor
--------------------------------------------------------- Women's section
Leeds 1s started off fairly slow against Otliensians in Yorkshire Prem, but managed to take the lead early on in the first half. Otley soon followed up with an equaliser and Leeds stepped up their game. A goal fest followed with goals from most of the team including Cat Reed’s well worked solo effort. A few sloppy goals were conceded to prevent the clean sheet but all in all a very comfortable win was secured. Final score Leeds 8, Otliensians 3. Player of the match birthday girl Jacqui Berresford! On the Sunday, Leeds 1s then travelled to Thirsk for a rearranged fixture. Leeds started off the game very strong with Charlotte Rostron scoring within the first ten minutes. Thirsk then pressured and Leeds conceded a penalty flick but Charlie Hall in goal did fantastically well to ensure that Leeds were able to keep the lead going in to half time. In the second half Leeds came out even stronger with Alice Roscoe quickly extending Leeds advantage. Some great team play followed resulting in a reverse strike from Robyn Dowding to extend the lead to 3 goals. Zoe Poland rounded off the victory after putting in a text book finish following Charlotte Rostron’s baseline drive. Overall it was a great team performance and a thoroughly deserved and convincing win for Leeds. Players of the match was joint between Alice Roscoe, Carlena Barber and Lisa Gregson.
Special thanks to Coach for umpiring, plus Big Jon and John Houldsworth who managed the team from the sidelines. Limited thanks to Timothy Newman and Philip Stubley who only saw the last 15 minutes of the game (the business end?) after they got lost whilst visiting the spiritual home of the Old Peculiers on their annual pilgrimage to the Theakstons Brewery. Too much beer or an inability to work a Tom Tom and a lack of common sense? You decide.
Report by Lisa 'Pocket Rocket' Gregson ------------------------------------------------------------- Leeds 2s drew 1-1 with Skipton in Div 1. ------------------------------------------------------------- Leeds 3’s drew 0-0 against Hull uni.
Leeds went out strong, determined, focused and ready to fight. Leeds remained calm and strong passing around well, tackling strong and keeping possession. Hull also kept strong throughout and determined to fight, they often made immature& un necessary comments about the game which I am proud to say Leeds did not rise to and it only increased Leeds determination not to concede any goals! Leeds had many exciting shots & rebounds on goal throughout including a penalty flick which was awarded when the Hull goal keeper took out Phoebe Webster, however unfortunately no goals were scored. Hull had less shots on goal however there were a few hair raising moments especially in the last 5 minutes but Lorna and the rest of defence did a fantastic job. Well done Leeds!
Report by Charlotte White ------------------------------------------------------------- In a tough weekend in Div 5, Leeds 4s lost 2-0 on Sat at home to York and then lost 10-0 away to Scarborough on the Sunday.
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